Holiday travel to increase despite high gas prices

By Thomas V. Bona

BusinessRockford.com

High gas prices won’t keep travelers home for the holidays.

AAA Chicago estimates that 65.2 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home through Christmas and New Year’s. That’s less than a 1 percent increase from last year, but with gas prices hovering around $3 a gallon nationally, any increase is noteworthy, spokeswoman Nicole Niemi said.

“I really think that the main reason is tradition, that’s why people traveled at Thanksgiving when we had high gas prices. It’s just ingrained in who we are as Americans that we spend Christmas with our families,” Niemi said. “Maybe there will be a few less stocking stuffers and cutbacks in other areas, but it’s not going to be in the gasoline budget.”

AAA estimates that 53 million will travel by motor vehicle and 8.9 million will travel by airplane.

Air travel will actually be slightly down from last year, as average airfare is up 16 percent.

“Where we’re seeing a real crunch is in those last-minute getaways,” Niemi said. “People may have cut that type of travel out of their budgets.”

Rental car rates are down 4 percent, likely due to the cut in leisure travel, AAA said.

Hotel rates, however, are up 9 percent from last year due to increased demand, AAA said.

Read more at BusinessRockford.com on Thursday about gas prices, weather and airport conditions for the holiday season.

Staff writer Thomas V. Bona may be contacted at 815-987-1343 or tbona@rrstar.com.